


Boom Clap

by Anonymous033



Series: For However Far We Run [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-06
Updated: 2015-05-06
Packaged: 2018-03-29 07:29:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3887569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anonymous033/pseuds/Anonymous033
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You’re Oliver Queen, and I wrecked your car. Of all cars—you’re not gonna sue me, are you?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Boom Clap

**Author's Note:**

> Oliver works at Queen Consolidated, but Felicity does not.

The sudden crash from the car behind jolts Oliver in his seat, jarring him and winding him as his seat belt catches him in the chest. He huffs and presses out a swear word before casting a glance at Diggle. The driver, looking quite as stunned as him, shrugs.

“The light’s red,” Diggle points out. “I was stopping.”

Oliver rolls his eyes. “Pull over when you can,” he says. “I’m gonna talk to that Mini Cooper behind.”

Diggle does accordingly, and thankfully, so does the Mini Cooper behind; as he steps out of his car, Oliver spares a thought that he might have had to jot down the tiny red atrocity’s license plate if it had tried to drive off.

But the driver’s door of the Mini Cooper opens then, and Oliver freezes at the exit of a ponytailed, bespectacled woman in the most tastefully colourful dress he’s ever seen. With the sunlight shining on her blonde hair, she looks a bit angelic.

_Angelic?_ Really, _Queen?_

Inwardly rolling his eyes at himself, he strides over to her.

“ _Ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod,_ ” she is stammering. “I am _so_ sorry. I just got this car, and you would think that means I would be a little more careful in it, but I’m just _such_ a daydreamer and I wasn’t paying atte—”

She stops abruptly, her face horrified, and he raises his eyebrows. “What?” he asks.

“You’re Oliver Queen,” the woman says. “ _You’re Oliver Queen, and I wrecked your car. Of all cars—_ you’re not gonna sue me, are you? Can you even sue someone over a minor car accident? Wait, I shouldn’t be asking you that. I don’t want to give you any ideas. Not that you shouldn’t have any ideas in the first place—”

Oliver laughs before he can stop himself. The woman is hilarious.

When he had stepped out of his car, he had been prepared for an argument the other driver, but as it turns out, she is just too adorable and endearing … and he cannot help wanting to get to know her better rather than scare her off.

“What’s your name?” he asks.

“Felicity Smoak,” the woman replies meekly. She grimaces a little, like she is trying to hold back words.

“Well, Felicity Smoak, I don’t know if I can sue you,” he answers, “but as I can tell from the hood of _your_ car, you did quite a number on my paint job.”

Sure enough, a glance towards the back of his car tells them both that the shell is dented and the paint is heavily chipped.

Felicity winces. “I would give you the number of my mechanic,” she offers in a strained voice, “but I have a feeling you have your own mechanic that’s a thousand times better. Not that mine isn’t good.”

“I do have my own mechanic.”

“So … how much do you want for the repairs?” Felicity asks tentatively.

He shrugs. “I _could_ send it to your mechanic, if that would make it easier for you to be billed,” he replies to her. “Or you could go out for a cup of coffee with me, and we’ll call it even.”

The smile slides off her face so quickly that Oliver wonders if he has imagined it. Felicity’s shoulders stiffen, and she spins on her heel and walks back to her car.

“Follow me,” she says tersely as she opens her car door. “I’ll lead you to my mechanic.”

And then she climbs into the car and shuts the door on him.

\-------------------------

The trip to the repair shop goes by quickly enough.

Oliver notes with interest that Felicity seems to be friends with everyone; the repairman, despite already being sweaty and grease-stained this early in the morning, smiles like his day has been made the moment he sees her. The scene makes Oliver’s heart flutter.

An animated, gesture-filled conversation later, Felicity tells Diggle to leave the car at the repair shop and offers to take both him and Oliver to Queen Consolidated, explaining that she will leave her own car at the repair shop another time. Diggle accepts happily, but insists on sitting in the backseat; this leaves Oliver to climb into the passenger’s seat, where Felicity pointedly ignores him.

It is a tight squeeze, but it gives Oliver the opportunity to study Felicity out of the corner of his eyes. She has not spoken to him ever since the misfortunate invitation to coffee. Diggle calls him a daft man at times—Oliver is starting to see why, because he cannot comprehend the reason behind Felicity’s anger.

She stops the car at the front steps of Queen Consolidated. Diggle gets out immediately, but Oliver refuses to move, and stays in the car until Felicity scowls at him.

“I’m sorry,” he says sincerely then. He might not be any smarter than he was five years ago, but he can try to be a better person.

“I believe in fairness, Mr Queen,” she answers as she turns back to stare out the windscreen. “If I run my car into somebody else’s, I _will_ pay for the damages. But car repairs and a cup of coffee are not the same thing. I don’t owe you a date. Is that clear?”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” he says apologetically. “I thought you were interesting. I … wanted to see you again.”

“Well, you should probably work on your presentation, then,” she replies tartly.

“Does that mean I’ve lost my chance?”

Her head whips around so quickly that he jumps. Her glare is ferocious. “Didn’t I just say—”

“I don’t mean in repayment for my car,” he says quickly. “Just in general. If you’re not completely repulsed by me yet. You can feel free to say no. I’m not gonna hold it against you. My driver, Diggle—he can collect the car when it’s done, and you’ll never have to see me again.”

_God,_ he usually has more game than that.

But Felicity’s face softens a little. “I’m usually the one babbling,” she responds with a small smile. “Tell you what: John Diggle has my number for if, for whatever reason, he needs to contact me about the car repairs. You can sit on it and think on it for a few days. If, by the time you get your car back, you still want to go on a coffee date with the crazy lady who rear-ended you, you can get the number from John Diggle and call me. I don’t guarantee to say yes, and if I do say no, you absolutely _cannot_ call me to ask me on a date again, because you made a really bad impression the first time ‘round. But I might say yes. Depending on whether you get better at asking women out.”

He closes his eyes and chuckles a little. “Okay,” he says. “Deal.”

“Deal,” she agrees. “Now get out—you’re already late for work, and the company can’t run itself.”

How she knows he runs the company is _beyond_ him, but it amazes him how a simple teasing from her can lift his spirits so much.

“Thanks,” he says with a beam as he gets out of her car. “Have a good day.”

“I’m late too!” she yells as he shuts the car door, and it makes him laugh.

He watches as she drives off. Only when she is a distance away does he turn and hurry up the steps to his office building.

\-------------------------

The first time he calls her, he does not ask her on a date.

Instead, he thanks her for her excellent choice in mechanics and asks her about her day. He learns that she is a genius is computer science and that she is currently starting up a new tech company with her friend Elizabeth.

The second time he calls her, he learns that she has a thing for horticulture and has made a garden out of her pocket-handkerchief-sized backyard. She also rants about the bad day she and Elizabeth had when one of the gadgets they were creating had failed, and he finds that he can offer no constructive solutions, but that he can offer comfort.

It is kind of nice. He has not been able to make anyone feel better using just his words in a long time.

The third time he calls her, she starts the conversation with, “So, have you given up asking me out or—?”

And it sobers him as much as it amuses him. “I’m trying not to screw this up,” he tells her seriously. “It didn’t feel right to call you just to ask you out when I messed it up the first time. I thought you’d like it better if I got to know you before I tried anything stupid.”

There is a prolonged silence on the phone line, and then she sighs. “Yes.”

“‘Yes’?” he asks, bewildered. “‘Yes’ what?”

“Yes, Oliver, I’ll go on a coffee date with you.”

“But I didn’t as—” He stops himself halfway through. “No. Wait. I mean, thank you.”

Felicity’s giggles, light and musical, filter through to his ear. “Seriously, how is it that you were a player not so long ago?”

“That was more than five years ago,” he defends sheepishly. “And I’ve been trying to be a better man since.”

“Good for you,” Felicity tells him softly. “So, where are we meeting for our coffee date?”

They decide on a time and place, and it does not take long for their topic of conversation to turn into a debate on the tastiness, or lack thereof, of assorted foods and beverages.

_Felicity is remarkable,_ he decides. She has an opinion on everything and is never afraid to express herself.

The thought makes him spend the entire night grinning like an idiot, even after they hang up.

* * *

Crossposted to: [Tumblr](http://anonymous033.tumblr.com/post/113737439907/boom-clap-an-oliver-felicity-one-shot-au)


End file.
